Commonsense Christianityhttp://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity
Beliefnet Voices - Carolyn HendersonFri, 20 Feb 2015 22:19:05 +0000en-UShourly1Contemporary Corporate Christianityhttp://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/02/contemporary-corporate-christianity.html
http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/02/contemporary-corporate-christianity.html#commentsFri, 20 Feb 2015 20:39:49 +0000http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/?p=1485“And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)
In contemporary establishment Christianity, many of the terms and concepts used are borrowed from the corporate world. For an ordinary worker bee, this means that on Sunday, as well as throughout the week,...

]]>“And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)
In contemporary establishment Christianity, many of the terms and concepts used are borrowed from the corporate world. For an ordinary worker bee, this means that on Sunday, as well as throughout the week,...

]]>http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/02/contemporary-corporate-christianity.html/feed/1Deception is Brilliant and . . . Wronghttp://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/02/deception-is-brilliant-and-wrong.html
http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/02/deception-is-brilliant-and-wrong.html#commentsWed, 18 Feb 2015 21:08:17 +0000http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/?p=1480"The men put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy." (Joshua 9:5)
It's not necessarily a compliment to be called clever, cunning, canny and shrewd, although in the society in which I live, the United States, fooling people is considered not a vice, but a virtue.
After all, if you want to get ahead -- really ahead -- you have to step on a few faces. We accept this, even among Christians, and some go so far...

]]>"The men put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread of their food supply was dry and moldy." (Joshua 9:5)
It's not necessarily a compliment to be called clever, cunning, canny and shrewd, although in the society in which I live, the United States, fooling people is considered not a vice, but a virtue.
After all, if you want to get ahead -- really ahead -- you have to step on a few faces. We accept this, even among Christians, and some go so far...

]]>http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/02/deception-is-brilliant-and-wrong.html/feed/1When Our Strength Is Our Godhttp://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/02/when-our-strength-is-our-god.html
http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/02/when-our-strength-is-our-god.html#commentsFri, 13 Feb 2015 18:08:56 +0000http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/?p=1474"They sweep past like the wind and go on -- guilty men, whose own strength is their god." (Habakkuk 1:11)
The society in which I live, the United States, is one which extols wit, cunning, business acumen, financial savvy, confidence, and strength.
While this is not necessarily the list of attributes worshiped by ordinary people, it is what is promoted throughout our highly and increasingly corporate culture. Lip service is given to the independence and sacrifices made by our...

]]>"They sweep past like the wind and go on -- guilty men, whose own strength is their god." (Habakkuk 1:11)
The society in which I live, the United States, is one which extols wit, cunning, business acumen, financial savvy, confidence, and strength.
While this is not necessarily the list of attributes worshiped by ordinary people, it is what is promoted throughout our highly and increasingly corporate culture. Lip service is given to the independence and sacrifices made by our...

]]>http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/02/when-our-strength-is-our-god.html/feed/5Three Things God Wants Us to DOhttp://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/02/three-things-god-wants-us-to-do.html
http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/02/three-things-god-wants-us-to-do.html#commentsWed, 11 Feb 2015 20:41:45 +0000http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/?p=1471He has showed you, Oman, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)
Those of us who attended church in the 1980s are familiar with the musical version of this verse. As with any Scripture that is set to music and presented during "worship service," however, it's easy to sing the words without thinking, and be pretty much unable to read them without the melody playing in the...

]]>He has showed you, Oman, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)
Those of us who attended church in the 1980s are familiar with the musical version of this verse. As with any Scripture that is set to music and presented during "worship service," however, it's easy to sing the words without thinking, and be pretty much unable to read them without the melody playing in the...

]]>http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/02/three-things-god-wants-us-to-do.html/feed/0Does It Bother You, That People Lie to Us?http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/02/does-it-bother-you-that-people-lie-to-us.html
http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/02/does-it-bother-you-that-people-lie-to-us.html#commentsFri, 06 Feb 2015 21:55:36 +0000http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/?p=1466"Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong?" (Habakkuk 1:3)
For many years, like many people, I was contentedly asleep, focusing the majority of my time on minor, day to day things, allowing those things to swallow up an inordinate proportion of my thoughts: I accepted without question everything I saw on the news, thereby finding myself in a constant state of overwhelmed anxiety; I nursed grudges over trivial offenses; I attended church and...

]]>"Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong?" (Habakkuk 1:3)
For many years, like many people, I was contentedly asleep, focusing the majority of my time on minor, day to day things, allowing those things to swallow up an inordinate proportion of my thoughts: I accepted without question everything I saw on the news, thereby finding myself in a constant state of overwhelmed anxiety; I nursed grudges over trivial offenses; I attended church and...

]]>http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/02/does-it-bother-you-that-people-lie-to-us.html/feed/4Why Do We Follow These Leaders?http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/02/why-do-we-follow-these-leaders.html
http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/02/why-do-we-follow-these-leaders.html#commentsWed, 04 Feb 2015 21:01:45 +0000http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/?p=1459"I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them." (Acts 20:29-30)
Jesus did not mean for His earthly flock to be left without wise, caring shepherds.
In this passage of Acts, the apostle Paul is speaking to the assembled leaders of Ephesus, and his words should make us all stop and reflect: Christianity, and its followers,...

]]>"I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them." (Acts 20:29-30)
Jesus did not mean for His earthly flock to be left without wise, caring shepherds.
In this passage of Acts, the apostle Paul is speaking to the assembled leaders of Ephesus, and his words should make us all stop and reflect: Christianity, and its followers,...

]]>http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/02/why-do-we-follow-these-leaders.html/feed/3Looking for Love in All the Wrong Placeshttp://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/01/looking-for-love-in-all-the-wrong-places.html
http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/01/looking-for-love-in-all-the-wrong-places.html#commentsFri, 30 Jan 2015 20:46:50 +0000http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/?p=1455"Come near to God and he will come near to you." (James 4:8)
Whenever I tell an appalling church story, I am sure to be scolded.
"Not all churches are like this!" is the general response. "You shouldn't be so harsh on churches because people need them."
(No, actually, they don't: people need God, and He is not confined to buildings.)
So, before I continue this story, I'll add the caveat:
Not all churches, or the people within them, are like the one I will shortly be...

]]>"Come near to God and he will come near to you." (James 4:8)
Whenever I tell an appalling church story, I am sure to be scolded.
"Not all churches are like this!" is the general response. "You shouldn't be so harsh on churches because people need them."
(No, actually, they don't: people need God, and He is not confined to buildings.)
So, before I continue this story, I'll add the caveat:
Not all churches, or the people within them, are like the one I will shortly be...

]]>http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/01/looking-for-love-in-all-the-wrong-places.html/feed/5Where Does All the Tithe Money Go?http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/01/where-does-all-the-tithe-money-go.html
http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/01/where-does-all-the-tithe-money-go.html#commentsWed, 28 Jan 2015 19:37:02 +0000http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/?p=1451"All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had." (Acts 4:32)
If you attend conventional church for any time at all, you will be unable to escape the annual, or semi-annual, sermon upon tithing, which encourages -- admonishes, actually -- members to bring their resources "before the Lord" on a regular basis. (Weekly, ten percent of the gross wages -- sounds like taxes, doesn't it?)
One...

]]>"All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had." (Acts 4:32)
If you attend conventional church for any time at all, you will be unable to escape the annual, or semi-annual, sermon upon tithing, which encourages -- admonishes, actually -- members to bring their resources "before the Lord" on a regular basis. (Weekly, ten percent of the gross wages -- sounds like taxes, doesn't it?)
One...

]]>http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/01/where-does-all-the-tithe-money-go.html/feed/4Walking in the Darkhttp://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/01/walking-in-the-dark.html
http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/2015/01/walking-in-the-dark.html#commentsWed, 21 Jan 2015 19:24:40 +0000http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/commonsensechristianity/?p=1445"Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant?
"Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God."
Initially, this verse was most perplexing to me because, despite God's consistently shaking me awake over the last nine years, and teaching me to listen to His voice and not man's, I tend to fall back on default to conventional, guided,...

]]>"Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant?
"Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God."
Initially, this verse was most perplexing to me because, despite God's consistently shaking me awake over the last nine years, and teaching me to listen to His voice and not man's, I tend to fall back on default to conventional, guided,...